Guard ring and method of making



Dec. 13, 1960 A. J. WEATHERHEAD, JR ,9 ,0

GUARD RING AND METHOD OF MAKING Filed Sept. 15, 1958 M M; @Jp 50 m r r LJ m. 2 MM U 37 z United States Patent GUARD RING AND METHOD OF MAKINGAlbert J. Weatherhead, 'Jr., Shaker Heights, Ohio, as-

signor to The Weatherhead Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation ofOhio Filed Sept. 15, 1958, Ser. No. 761,104

7 Claims. (Cl. 137-382) This invention relates to a container and moreparticularly to a protective guard applicable to such container forpreventing damage to more fragile parts associated therewith.

In the provision of liquified petroleum gas for domestic applications ithas become customary to contain the same in manually portable steelcontainers having a filling and dispensing valve mounted thereon. Forprotecting such valve against damage resulting from impact it has beencustomary to provide a continuous cylindrical member enclosing the valveand secured at one end as by welding to the container, with theremaining end open for accessibility to the valve. Such a cylindricalmember is apertured to accommodate gas lines leading from the tank.

In accordance with this invention a simplified guard is established by asingle straight rod of material formed to provide base portionsattachable to a tank along the length thereof and a pair of matingportions to form a circumferentially continuous guard ring spaced fromthe base portions by a plurality of stanchions also formed from the rod.The more fragile portions of the valve apparatus of the invention aredisposed within the region circumscribed by the guard ring and adjacentstanchions whereby impact against the valve apparatus by large, bluntobjects is prevented since the guard ring or stanchions are interposedinto any possible path of such objects.

It is an object of this invention to form a composite member tofacilitate handling of liquified petroleum containers and to provide asimplified and effective guard for fragile parts associated therewith.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel constructionfor a composite handle and guard member for a liquefied petroleumcontainer.

It is another object of this invention to provide an open frameworkguard member for a liquified petroleum container providing completeperipheral protection for the fragile elements thereof against impactwith large objects.

It is another object of this invention to facilitate the construction ofa protective guard for a liquified petroleum container from a singlelength of rod stock.

Other and further objects and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent from a detailed description thereof taken with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure l is a perspective view showing the guard of this invention asapplied to a pressure tank,

Figure 2. is an enlarged perspective showing the guard of this inventionas the same is applied to a liquified petroleum container,

Figure 3 is a plan view of the guard of this invention, and

Figure 4 is a side view of a straight piece of stock material from whichthe guard member is formed and is labeled to indicate the correspondingguard member portions.

Referring now to the drawings, represents generally 2,964,054 Q PatentedDec. 13, 1960 the guard member of this invention applied to a liquifiedpetroleum container represented generally at 12 and having a filling anddispensing valve apparatus shown generally at 14 which is enclosed andprotected by the guard member 10'. The valve apparatus includes a nipple16 threadedly engaging a raised internally threaded base 17' which iswelded into an opening of the container '12. Nipple 16 providescommunication between the interior of the container 12 and a valve 18which is pro vided with an opening 20 selectively made communicable witha source line for receiving liquified petroleum under the control ofvalve .18 actuated by a handle 22 or which may be made communicable witha receiving line for dispensing liquified petroleum for final usethereof.

Container 12 is preferably provided with a base 23 constructed inaccordance with the invention disclosed in patent application of LouisB. Courtot and George E. Tanker, Serial No. 665,761, filed June 14, 1957and assigned to The Weatherhead Company, Cleveland, Ohio.

The length of nipple 16 as it extends away from the body of thecontainer is large as compared with the length thereof in engagementwith the wall of the container. Accordingly, lateral forces against thehandle 22 or valve 18 would tend to break the nipple 16 across thethreads therein or cause a leak through the threads by distorting same.Guard member 10, completely surrounding the valve apparatus provides ahighly desirable and protective guard about the valve apparatus toprevent damage that may be wrought thereto by any impact or other forcethereagainst.

As seen clearly in Figure 4 of the drawings guard member 10 is formedfrom a single length of rod 25 bent to form the several arcuate andstraight portions of the guard member shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. Informing guard member 10, the respective ends 24 and 26 of rod 25 are inendwise abutment with each other and the remaining portions of the rodare curved and formed to provide the finished guard member as shown.Portions 28 and 30 near respective ends 24, 26 of the rod are curvedslightly through an arc of approximately 45 degrees whereby the twoportions together form an arcuate base portion of approximately degreesextent. At each 'end of the base portion 28 and 30, the rod extendsupwardly to form a pair of stanchions 32 and 34 the respective upperends of which are curved to form the ends of respective mating arcuateguard ring components 36 and 38 each of approximately 270 degreesextent. Each of the guard ring components has a nonoverlapping portionof approximately 90 degrees extent substantially diametrically opposed.Along overlapping portions, the guard ring components are preferablysecured together as by welding along portions 40 and 42 thereof toprovide added strength and rigidity thereto. Each end of the guard ringcomponents remote from the stanchions 32 and 34 extends downwardly toform another pair of stanchions 44 and 46 which terminate in the ends ofanother integral base portion 48 diametrically opposed from baseportions 28 and 30 and of approximately 90 degrees arcuate extent.

As seen more clearly in Figure 3 of the drawings, portions 28, 30, 36and 48 are concentric and have the same radius of curvature and portion36 is concentric with portions 28, 3t), 36 and 48 but of a larger radiusof curvature whereby stanchions 32 and 44 extending between portion 36and portions 28 and 48, respectively, are substantially vertical.Stanchions 34 and 46, however, extend between portions of unlike radiiof curvature and deviate from a perpendicular position slightly.

According to the method of this invention, the rod 25 is bent to formmid-portion 48 and the same is arcuately formed to contact the tank 12about an upper portion pointed out.

thereof and the 'ends of the rod 25 extending away from portion 48 arebent at right angles upwardly and away from the plane of mid-portion 48to form the two stanchions 44 and 46. As the next step in this method,

the two remaining portions of the rod adjacent to the stanchions 44 and46 are bent into intermediate arcuate portions 36 and 38 which are ofsubstantially 270 deportions 36 and 38 are bent downwardly away from theplane of these portions and extend in substantially a straight line tothe plane of portion 48 to form stanchions 32 and 34 and where the sameare further bent and formed into portions 28 and 30 extending along anarcuate -path symmetrically disposed with respect to portion 48 and ofthe same radius of curvature.

The portions 28 and 30 are of substantially equal length and are broughtinto endwise abutment with each other. As final steps of this method,the overlapping portions of 36 and 38 are welded together as at 40 and42 and the portions 48 and 28, 30 are welded to the tank 12.

In assembled position of guard member .10, the base portions 28, 30 and48 are secured as by welding to the container 12 as shown at 50 and 52in Figure 1. In this position, ready access to the valve apparatus isfacilitated while the same is protected in the manner already The guardmember also provides a convenient handle for carrying the container.

In the forming of the guard member 10, the rod ends need not be securedtogether since the base portion is secured to the container. Thejunctions between arcuate portions and stanchions are well rounded tofacilitate formation of the guard to improve the appearance of theguard.

It is observed that a protective guard for pressure tanks made inaccordance with the herein disclosed invention is effective in shieldingor protecting the valve apparatus of such a pressure tank andfurthermore that .such a guard provides an effective handle for carryingor otherwise manipulating the tank.

Having thus described this invention in such full, clear, concise andexact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which itpertains to make and use the same, and having set forth the best modecontemplated of carrying out this invention, I state that the subjectmatter which I regard as being my invention is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in what is claimed, it being understood thatequivalents or modifications of, or substitutions for, parts of theabove specifically described embodiment of the invention may be madewithout departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in whatis claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A guard member for an upstanding valve mounted on a domed space of atank comprising a pair of curved portions each of substantially 270degrees extent in radial overlapping engagement with each other, saidcurved portions having a circumferentially continuous surface in aplane, a plurality of stanchions integral with the ends of said curvedportions extending away from the plane of said surface and intoengagement with said tank, a pair of said stanchions being integrallyjoined along an arcuate base of substantially the same radius ofcurvature as one of said portions, another pair of said stanchionsterminating in a base along an arc of substantially the same radius ofcurvature as said one base and each of said bases being secured to saidtank.

2. A valve guard ring for a metal tank having a valve projecting fromone end thereof comprising a length of rod stock having a mid-portionthereof bent in arcuate form to provide a base connected to the tank, apair of intermediate portions of said rod spaced from respective ends ofsaid mid-portion and bent in overlapping arcuate form to provide a ringin a plane adjacent the projecting end of the valve, a pair of sectionsadjacent respective ends of said rod being bent to form another arcuatebase connected to the tank in the plane of said mid-portion and aplurality of further substantially straight portions of said rodextending between the ends of said intermediate portions and the ends ofsaid bases formed by said mid-portion and said end sections to formstanchions to support said ring.

3. A valve guard ring according to claim 2 wherein said intermediateportions lie in arcs of concentric circles and said pair of saidstanchions are substantially perpendicular to the plane of said ring.

4. A valve guard ring according to claim 2 wherein the radius ofcurvature of said bases formed by said midportion and said end portionsis substantially equal to the radius of curvature of one of saidintermediate portions.

5. A valve guard ring according to claim 2 wherein said intermediateportions of said rod overlap along symmetric and diametrically opposedlengths and the arcuate extent of said overlapping lengths isapproximately degrees.

6. 'A method of forming a guard ring for a metal tank having anoutwardly disposed valve comprising the steps of bending a mid-portionof a straight rod into an arcuate section in a predetermined plane,extending the sections of said rod on each side of said mid-portion inthe same direction away from said plane to a predetermined distance toform a pair of stanchions, bending the portions of said rod adjacent tosaid stanchions in opposite directions along arcuate paths ofsubstantially 270 lying in a plane parallel to said predetermined planeto form a ring, extending the portions of said rod adjacent to said ringaway from the plane of said ring and toward said predetermined plane toform another pair of stanchions and extending the remaining portions ofsaid rod adjacent to the other pair of stanchions along an arcuate pathin said predetermined plane and into endwise abutment with each other.

7. A method of forming a guard ring for a metal tank having an outwardlydisposed valve comprising the steps of forming a mid-portion of astraight rod into an arcuate section in a predetermined plane, extendingportions of said rod between said mid-portion and respective endsthereof in the same direction along substantially straight lines andaway from said plane a predetermined distance, bending portions of saidrod between said straight portions and respective ends thereof inopposite directions along overlapping arcs in a plane parallel to saidpredetermined plane, bending the portions of said rod bet-ween saidoverlapping arcs and the ends thereof away from the plane of said arcsand toward said predetermined plane, bending the remaining portions ofsaid rod along an arcuate path in said predetermined plane and intoabutment with each other and securing said overlapping portions to eachother and securing said arcuate portions in said predetermined plane toa metal tank about a valve extending therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSBelgium Sept. 30, 2

